Neck-stock



OFFICE.

WILLIAM WATSON, OF LOWELL, ILLINOIS.

NECK-STOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,705, dated June 12, 1860.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM VATSON, of Lowell, in the county of Lasalle and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Article of Manufacture, viz., a Neck-Dress or Stock of Vulcanized Gum, and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents one of my new stocks, and Fig. 2 a transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 is a front view of a fragment of one of my stocks having perforations dierent in form from those of Fig. l.

The object of my invention is to obtain a stock which is free from these defects, and it consists in a stock of hard vulcanized gum, such for example as hard vulcanized india rubber or gutta percha, of suitable form to fit thc neck. A stock of this description is represented in the annexed drawing at Fig. l and in this instance is composed of two half round rims connected by bars, so as to be pervious to air and moisture which readily pass through its interstices. Such stocks may be formed in various ways, but the following is the best method with which I am acquainted. I take the hard vulcanizable compound of india rubber and sulfur in the putty like state in which itcomes from the grinding mill, I roll it into sheets in the usual manner practiced in rubber factories, and then press it into flat molds of suitable form between sheet-s of flexible metal. The molded goods are then vulcanized hard in the water tanks of an ordinary wet steam heater, after which the sheet metal is stripped ofi' and the stocks are nshed by grinding and polishing, as is well understood in the manufacture of hard rubber goods. If the stocks are to be perforated, this operation may be effected partly by the action of the molds when the material is pressed into them, and partly in the process of finishing. If preferred, the stocks may be formed by cutting them by dies of suitable form out of flat sheets of hard vulcanized gum previously warmed. In

finishing the article, a polished surface may be imparted to it, or the surface may be left dull, or it may be finished in such manner as to give it the appearance of a woven fabric. The stocks may also be plain, or they may be ornamented as desired by the usual methods employed in manufacturing goods of the vulcanizable gums. After the stock is finished in a flat state, it may be bent to tit the curve of the neck by heating it in hot water or upon a steam heater, bending it over a form of suitable shape, and securing it thereto by bands of cloth until it is cold.

Stocks of this description, while they may be made pervious by perforation so as to permit the perspiration to escape in vapor, possess the valuable property of being non-absorbents of moisture; hence they do not absorb perspiration, and consequently do not acquire an offensive odor by wear. They are also cool in hot weather, and may be made of very light weight; they may be -readily washed when soiled, and from the elasticity of the material such a stock closes upon the neck, after it has been opened for the purpose of being applied thereto, and retains its position without the necessity of a clasp; a clasp may however be applied to the stock if deemed expedient, and may have the form of a hook secured to one of the ends of the stock and engaging in a slot formed in the other end thereof.

I do not claim the invention of the vulcanization of the vulcanizable gums nor any process or machinery for working these compounds, but

That I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- A stock of hard vulcanized gum as a new article of manufacture.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

M. WATSON. 

